


and believe me (I am still alive)

by blackkat



Series: Horoscope Drabbles [13]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 11:01:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17263037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat
Summary: This was probably a plain, once. If Kakashi doesn’t focus too hard, he can almost see the fields of grass stretching out on either side of the highway for miles, unbroken by any structures. Now the water has risen to cover it, though, and all that’s left is an inland sea, murky and depthless.





	and believe me (I am still alive)

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Normal Horoscopes on Tumblr:
> 
> Gemini: The overgrown remnants of a highway. Rusted cars sit overflowing with reeds. There isn’t another road for miles. The cars all seem to be postwar models.

This was probably a plain, once. If Kakashi doesn’t focus too hard, he can almost see the fields of grass stretching out on either side of the highway for miles, unbroken by any structures. Now the water has risen to cover it, though, and all that’s left is an inland sea, murky and depthless. The highway itself is overgrown, more cracks than asphalt, but dry—a ribbon unfurling across the water, leading them on into the distance.

“Sun’s rising,” Genma says, because his eyes are on the horizon they’ve left behind them, cold and broken.

Kakashi doesn’t look back. He never does.

“We should have plenty of light,” he says instead, and Genma laughs like it’s a joke.

“All the better to eat you with, my dear,” he says lightly, and pushes his bandana back a little, wisps of brown hair escaping to stick to his sweaty skin. They’ve been walking for hours already, moving by the light of the marsh gas that rises in flickers of red and green and gold.

“You’ve got more meat on you bones than I do,” Kakashi says mildly. He sweeps a cautious look over the rusted, abandoned car halfway into the water, covered in reeds that sway in the dawn wind. There's no sign of anything helpful, but there's also no sign of anything nasty, so he’s counting it as a draw. There's a rusted-over semitruck ahead that looks like it could be more dangerous, though. “Whatever comes after us is going to aim for you first.”

Genma snickers, as if it’s not the truth, though they both know it is. “You think I can flirt my way out?” he asks. “Hard for anyone to resist my charms, you know.”

“Why don’t you try that next time they jump us,” Kakashi says dryly. “I’ll stand at a safe distance and laugh.”

“Asshole.” There's no heat behind it, though, and Genma keeps pace easily, scanning the water with a practiced eye. “We do need to sleep at some point, you know.”

Kakashi knows that all too well. Exhaustion will cost them precious seconds of reaction time, moments they can't afford to lose. Their burden is too precious for either of them to get killed and leave the other to struggle on alone.

He hesitates over his memory of the old road map, carefully altered with handwritten notes and warnings, that they spread out on Minato's kitchen table beneath a guttering lamp. It was too precious a thing for them to take, but Kakashi can recall the important parts of it with a bit of effort.

“There's an old rest area ahead,” he says, doesn’t add _or at least there should be_ , because they both know that that’s the caveat to every bit of knowledge they have right now. “Maybe an hour.”

Genma is a fighter just like Kakashi, has been one of Minato's guards since the moment Minato became leader of the resistance and realized he needed one. He doesn’t argue, just nods, and asks quietly, “Any chance there's something before that?”

Awareness prickles down Kakashi’s spine, the same thing Genma must be feeling. Like eyes in the dark, and he tenses, sweeps a look across the sky in front of them. No sign of a craft, but—that doesn’t mean much, these days.

“No,” Kakashi says, “nothing official.”

Genma casts him a sideways look, lifting a brow, and opens his mouth to ask, but in the same moment Kakashi catches a shimmer far away. Marsh gas, again, but it’s reflecting off something, fracturing. The thing is moving lazily, absently; it hasn’t seen them yet, but Kakashi doesn’t linger. He throws himself forward, slamming into Genma before he can react. Genma gives a muffled yelp, but he doesn’t fight, lets Kakashi topple them off the edge of the road and right into the half-crumpled remains of the semi’s trailer.

Kakashi isn't _trying_ to land on him, honestly, but it’s still nice of Genma to break his fall.

For a long moment, they lie on the soggy floor of the trailer, perfectly still and listening for any sign that they were seen. There's none that’s obvious, though, and after several minutes Genma gives a wheeze, then a theatrical groan, and lets his head fall back against the floor.

“You know, Kakashi,” he says. “If you wanted to get me alone, all you had to do was ask.”

“We’re not alone,” Kakashi says, dust-dry, and props himself up on his elbows, still on top of Genma. “That’s kind of the problem.”

Genma laughs, though he keeps it soft. “Oh?” he teases. “If we _were_ , would you lose control? Ravish me?”

“Gag you, at the very least.” It’s still quiet outside, so Kakashi rolls off of Genma, carefully settling on the rotting floor.

“Kinky, but I'm down,” is Genma's verdict, even though his eyes are on the overgrown road, the flickers of marsh gas igniting and then fading.

“I’ll hold you to that.” Kakashi glances around the trailer, then tips his head in question, and Genma groans but nods reluctantly. Better to sleep here and let the craft pass than risk going back out there.

Automatically, Kakashi checks the bag hanging around his neck, kept right against his skin. It’s still in place, and he doesn’t open it, doesn’t look at the chip nestled in its protective case. The Kyuubi Project is everything Minato and Orochimaru have been working on for _years_ now, and Kushina, far away on the other side of the country, is the only one who can use it to its full potential. Kakashi and Genma have to get it to her. There's no other option.

“Hey,” Genma says, soft but certain, and when Kakashi glances up Genma holds his eyes. “We’ll make it. between the two of us, there's no chance of anything else.”

Kakashi doesn’t quite believe it, but the ready confidence makes him smile, just faintly. “I'm holding you to that, too,” he warns, but tucks the bag back under his shirt and settles against the wall, more than read to get some sleep.


End file.
